Technology
press releases.

Technology4 Dec 2024

Racial and ethnic disparities in regulatory air quality monitor locations in the US

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest regulatory monitor data may not adequately capture air quality exposures for some marginalized race and ethnicity groups, and the consequences of incomplete or uncertain air quality estimates for these communities should be further investigated. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Brenna C. Kelly, MS, email brenna.kelly@utah.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.49005) Editor’s Note: Please see the article ...

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Technology4 Dec 2024

The Italian language enters the Semantic Web with LiITA, a project to create a linguistic knowledge base to serve as a basis for developing new technologies

Many Italian texts, lexicons, and dictionaries are just a click away, interacting seamlessly to form a bridge between words and knowledge. This enables users to see, and thus predict, where these terms are and will be used (in other words, their occurrences), creating a network that interlinks Italian language resources. This network fosters dialogue between resources, revealing new perspectives and enabling the development of artificial intelligence models for advanced linguistic analyses. These are ...

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Technology4 Dec 2024

CRISPR-Cas technology: Balancing efficiency and safety

Genome editing with various CRISPR-Cas molecule complexes has progressed rapidly in recent years. Hundreds of labs around the world are now working to put these tools to clinical use and are continuously advancing them. CRISPR-Cas tools allow researchers to modify individual building blocks of genetic material in a precise and targeted manner. Gene therapies based on such gene editing are already being used to treat inherited diseases, fight cancer and create drought- and heat-tolerant crops. Starting the repair The CRISPR-Cas9 molecular complex, also known as genetic scissors, ...

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Technology4 Dec 2024

AI helps researchers dig through old maps to find lost oil and gas wells

Scattered across the United States are remnants from almost 170 years of commercial drilling: hundreds of thousands of forgotten oil and gas wells. These undocumented orphaned wells (UOWs) are not listed in formal records, and they have no known (or financially solvent) operators. They are often out of sight and out of mind – a hazardous combination. If the wells weren’t properly plugged, they can potentially leak oil and chemicals into nearby water sources or send toxic substances like benzene and hydrogen sulfide into the air. They can also contribute ...

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Technology4 Dec 2024

Monell Chemical Senses Center and A*Star SIFBI sign agreement to collaborate in sensory science research and education

PHILADELPHIA, PA and SINGAPORE – The Monell Chemical Senses Center, a global leader in advancing the scientific understanding of taste, smell, and related senses, and A*STAR Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (A*STAR SIFBI), a translational research institute for health and well-being focused on Asian phenotype have entered into a five-year research and education alliance. Today, Dr Benjamin P.C. Smith, Monell Executive Director & President, met with Dr Sze Tan, A*STAR SIFBI Executive Director, to sign a Memorandum ...

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Technology4 Dec 2024

Approaching the unexplored “plasma phase-space” with data science

A paper summarizing the results of this research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on November 8. Fusion energy is being researched and developed as a new source of electric power that will contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society. At the National Institute for Fusion Science, research on magnetically confined plasma is being conducted using the Large Helical Device*2 (LHD). The major difference between plasma and other gases is its low density. The density of magnetically confined plasma is only about one millionth that of the atmosphere, and collisions between constituent particles occur only rarely. As a result, the histogram ...

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Technology3 Dec 2024

Overlooked emissions in California’s Salton Sea air basin

At least one-quarter of all nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in California’s Salton Sea air basin come from soil, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. Using isotopic analysis, the study found that annual total soil emissions for the basin were about 11 tons per day on average, which is 10 times larger than the state’s current inventory for soil NOx emissions in the region. The work was published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports. The study highlights the need to ...

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Technology3 Dec 2024

New book explores promise and perils of AI for scientific community

In late 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot able to generate conversational answers and analyses, as well as images, in response to user questions and prompts. This generative AI was built with computational procedures, such as large language models, that train on vast bodies of human-created and curated data, including scientific literature. Since then, the worry that AI may someday outsmart humans has grown more widespread. In a new collection of essays, leading ...

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Technology3 Dec 2024

Experts reveal how revolutionary technological advances could use the sun to source hydrogen fuel

In the future, we could fuel the world with sunlight and water – using sunlight to derive hydrogen fuel from H2O. Currently, most hydrogen that’s used as feedstock and fuel is derived from natural gas, and therefore doesn’t help us cut out fossil fuels. But Japanese scientists are leading the way towards a future powered by hydrogen, with new, easily-manufactured photocatalytic sheets and a proof-of-concept panel reactor which shows that it is possible to refine hydrogen fuel from water at scale. “Sunlight-driven water splitting using photocatalysts is an ideal technology for solar-to-chemical ...

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Technology3 Dec 2024

Monell Chemical Senses Center and A*STAR Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation sign agreement to collaborate in sensory science research and education

PHILADELPHIA, PA and QUEENSTOWN, SINGAPORE (Monday, Dec 2, 2024 9:30 pm EST; Tuesday, Dec 3, 2024 9:30 am SST) The Monell Chemical Senses Center, a global leader in advancing the scientific understanding of taste, smell, and related senses, and A*STAR Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (A*STAR SIFBI), a translational research institute for health and well-being focused on Asian phenotype have entered into a five-year research and education alliance. Today, Benjamin P.C. Smith, PhD, Monell Executive Director & President, met with Sze Tan, PhD, A*STAR SIFBI Executive Director, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding ...

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Technology3 Dec 2024

Stereotypes matter: Computer science needs better role models

White, male, billionaire entrepreneurs fuel stereotypes that compound the issues surrounding diversity in technology and computer science, according to a new study. The identities of famous people contribute a lot to stereotypes in their respective domains. Prominent public figures can easily become influential to young people. But are these role models effective for creating a diverse community of computer science students? That, at this point in time, seems unlikely. The study, carried out by the University of Reading and published today ([INSERT DATE]) in the Oxford Review of Education, ...

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Technology2 Dec 2024

Accelerating climate modeling with generative AI

The algorithms behind generative AI tools like DallE, when combined with physics-based data, can be used to develop better ways to model the Earth’s climate. Computer scientists in Seattle and San Diego have now used this combination to create a model that is capable of predicting climate patterns over 100 years 25 times faster than the state of the art. Specifically, the model, called Spherical DYffusion, can project 100 years of climate patterns in 25 hours–a simulation that would take weeks for other models. In addition, existing state-of-the-art models need to run on supercomputers. This model can run on GPU clusters in a research lab. “Data-driven ...

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Technology2 Dec 2024

Physics experiment proves patterns in chaos in peculiar quantum realm

Where do you see patterns in chaos? It has been proven, in the incredibly tiny quantum realm, by an international team co-led by UC Santa Cruz physicist Jairo Velasco, Jr. In a new paper published on November 27 in Nature, the researchers detail an experiment that confirms a theory first put forth 40 years ago stating that electrons confined in quantum space would move along common paths rather than producing a chaotic jumble of trajectories. Electrons exhibit both particle and wave-like properties—they ...

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Technology2 Dec 2024

New datasets will train AI models to think like scientists

What can exploding stars teach us about how blood flows through an artery? Or swimming bacteria about how the ocean’s layers mix? A collaboration of researchers from universities, science philanthropies and national laboratories has reached an important milestone toward training artificial intelligence models to find and exploit transferable knowledge between seemingly disparate fields to drive scientific discovery. This initiative, called Polymathic AI, uses technology similar to that powering large language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT ...

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Technology2 Dec 2024

Illinois researchers examine teens’ use of generative AI, safety concerns

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Teenagers use generative artificial intelligence for many purposes, including emotional support and social interactions. A study by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers found that parents have little understanding of GAI, how their children use it and its potential risks, and that GAI platforms offer insufficient protection to ensure children’s safety. The research paper by information sciences professor Yang Wang, the co-director of the Social Computing Systems Lab, and doctoral student Yaman Yu is one of the first published sources of data on the uses and risks of GAI for children. Wang ...

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Technology2 Dec 2024

Smallest walking robot makes microscale measurements

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell University researchers have created the smallest walking robot yet. Its mission: to be tiny enough to interact with waves of visible light and still move independently, so that it can maneuver to specific locations – in a tissue sample, for instance – to take images and measure forces at the scale of some of the body’s smallest structures. The team’s paper, “Magnetically Programmed Diffractive Robotics,” published in Science. “A walking robot that’s small enough to interact with and shape light effectively takes a microscope’s lens and puts it directly ...

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Technology2 Dec 2024

Photonic processor could enable ultrafast AI computations with extreme energy efficiency

The deep neural network models that power today’s most demanding machine-learning applications have grown so large and complex that they are pushing the limits of traditional electronic computing hardware. Photonic hardware, which can perform machine-learning computations with light, offers a faster and more energy-efficient alternative. However, there are some types of neural network computations that a photonic device can’t perform, requiring the use of off-chip electronics or other techniques that hamper speed and efficiency. Building on a decade of research, scientists from ...

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Technology2 Dec 2024

Pioneering digital twin model elevates lithium-ion battery performance and safety

Source: Beijing Institute of Technology Press Lithium-ion batteries are celebrated for their high specific energy, long service life, and low self-discharge rates. However, ensuring their reliability and safety under various operating conditions is critical for their continued success in industrial applications. Digital twin technology, which creates a virtual replica of a physical entity, offers a promising solution by enabling real-time monitoring and optimization of battery performance. This technology facilitates interactive feedback, data fusion, and iterative ...

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Technology2 Dec 2024

Research alert: How artificial intelligence could automate genomics research

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated that large language models (LLMs), such as GPT-4, could help automate functional genomics research, which seeks to determine what genes do and how they interact. The most frequently-used approach in functional genomics, called gene set enrichment, aims to determine the function of experimentally-identified gene sets by comparing them to existing genomics databases. However, more interesting and novel biology is often beyond the scope of established databases. Using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze gene ...

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Technology2 Dec 2024

The Microprocessor inside you

It’s a big year for microRNAs. The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, who discovered the first microRNA in 1993. Today, we know that humans make more than 1,000 different microRNAS. These molecules are critical for building and maintaining healthy bodies, so it’s crucial that they’re made the right way. Errors in microRNA manufacture can put us at risk for developmental disorders, cancer, or neurodegenerative disease. To learn how cells accurately generate a mind-boggling array of microRNAs, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor and HHMI Investigator Leemor ...

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Technology29 Nov 2024

Fine particulate air pollution may play a role in adverse birth outcomes

Embargoed for release: Friday, November 29, 2:00 PM ET Key points: Exposure to PM2.5 was associated with higher levels of inflammation among pregnant women, potentially leading to adverse birth outcomes. Study examined PM2.5 and maternal and fetal health on a single-cell level, using an innovative technology to detect how pollution modified the DNA within individual cells. Findings provide new understanding of the biological pathways through which air pollution affects pregnancy and birth outcomes, ...

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Technology27 Nov 2024

State-wide center for quantum science: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology joins IQST as a new partner

The mission of IQST is to further our understanding of nature and develop innovative technologies based on quantum science by leveraging synergies between the natural sciences, engineering, and life sciences. "Many KIT scientists already successfully support IQST with their expertise as Fellows. All the more I am pleased that the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is now joining our interdisciplinary centre as an institution," says IQST Director Prof. Stefanie Barz. "This will strengthen networking within the academic quantum community in Baden-Württemberg," emphasizes ...

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Technology27 Nov 2024

AI Safety Institute launched as Korea’s AI Research Hub

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), headed by Minister Yoo Sang-im, held the launch ceremony for the "AI Safety Institute" (AISI) on Wednesday, November 27, at the Pangyo Global R&D Center. At the "AI Seoul Summit"last May, leaders from 10 countries recognized safety as a key component of responsible AI innovation and emphasized the importance of establishing AI safety institutes and fostering global collaboration for safe AI. President Yoon Suk Yeol also expressed his commitment, stating, "We will work towards establishing an AI safety institute in Korea and actively participate ...

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Technology27 Nov 2024

AI can predict study results better than human experts

Large language models, a type of AI that analyses text, can predict the results of proposed neuroscience studies more accurately than human experts, finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. The findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour, demonstrate that large language models (LLMs) trained on vast datasets of text can distil patterns from scientific literature, enabling them to forecast scientific outcomes with superhuman accuracy. The researchers say this highlights ...

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Technology27 Nov 2024

Making a difference: Efficient water harvesting from air possible

Harvesting water from the air and decreasing humidity are crucial to realizing a more comfortable life for humanity. Water-adsorption polymers have been playing a key part in atmospheric water harvesting and desiccant air conditioning, but desorption so that the polymers can be efficiently reused has been an issue. Now, Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have found a way to make desorption of these polymers more efficient. Usually, heat of around 100°C is required to desorb these polymers, but Graduate School of Engineering student Daisuke Ikegawa, Assistant Professor Arisa Fukatsu, ...

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